


Out of His Vulcan Mind

by larosesombre



Category: Star Trek: The Original Series
Genre: Chess, Even I'm tired, Everyone is tired, Fluff, M/M, OOC Spock, Sleep Deprivation, Sleepy Boys, Tired Spock (Star Trek), Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-19
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-14 23:36:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29550117
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/larosesombre/pseuds/larosesombre
Summary: The senior officers are exhausted. What was meant to be a relaxing game of chess ends early when Spock starts behaving oddly. Apparently sleep deprivation makes him more affectionate...Very fluffy, featuring a somewhat ooc Spock.
Relationships: James T. Kirk/Leonard "Bones" McCoy/Spock
Comments: 4
Kudos: 53





	Out of His Vulcan Mind

**Author's Note:**

> It's been a while since I posted anything and I've had this sitting around so I thought I'd give it a go. Enjoy! -- larosesombre

The rec-room was full, even for this time of night. Jim Kirk, having left his bridge in the hands of the night crew, was trying to finish a game of chess with Spock. Spock was difficult to beat at the best of times and now, eyes half-lidded with sleepiness, Jim was finding it nearly impossible to retain focus on their game. 

Spock, rather amazingly, looked tired too. They had just come off of a long shift, and even he seemed affected. He moved his pieces sluggishly, missing some moves that he would not otherwise have missed. Jim supposed it was balancing them out then. They were both too exhausted to have an advantage over the other.

Bones, sitting nearby, appeared to be dozing. He had been reading something on a PADD and intermittently commenting on their game, but as they all grew sleepier he had begun to yawn and had eventually gone silent, drifting off into a light sleep. Jim didn’t want to wake him until the game was finished. He’d undoubtedly had a long day too. 

Jim watched Spock make his next move, the white knight moving from the top central board, and down to the middle one. It was one of Spock’s few remaining pieces, and he had placed it in reach of Jim’s bishop. After carefully scanning the board to make sure it wasn’t a trick, Jim captured the piece.

“Well done, Captain,” Spock said, absent mindedly moving his next piece in a foolish diagonal across the board. Jim took that one too.

“You’re not playing your best game, Spock,” Jim said, watching as Spock picked up his last remaining piece and placed it a couple spaces in front of his king which had been backed into a corner at some point during the game. Jim captured the piece. “That’s checkmate.”

Spock looked at him, a soft expression on his face. “I believe it was you who wasn’t playing your best game. It would have been unfair to take advantage of your exhaustion,” he said. 

“You let me win?” Jim demanded, frowning slightly. “You know I don’t like it when people do that.” Spock had never done this before, it was usually Bones who got bored and took bad moves to hasten the game. “Spock, you’re acting strangely.”

“I didn’t want you to lose. I’ve noted that losing creates feelings of distress in humans. It is illogical, but losing a game makes you frustrated and unhappy.” Spock toppled his king in surrender. “I don’t want you to feel unhappy,” he said softly.

Jim didn’t know quite what to do with this information. He eyed Spock with concern. Was there something wrong with the Vulcan? He looked as tired as Jim felt, but there was a soft smile playing across his lips that was quite unlike anything Jim had ever seen before. “Are you running a fever?” He asked, unsure of what else could be wrong with Spock. “Should I wake Bones?”

“No, let him sleep.” Spock turned the affectionate smile on Bones who was starting to snore. Then he did the oddest thing. He leaned over and planted a very human kiss on Bones’ temple. Jim, unsure of how to process any of this, sputtered something inaudible. Spock turned back towards him, “Jim?” 

“What are you doing?” Jim managed to say. “Are you sure you’re alright?”

Spock, still retaining some logic at least, stopped and mulled it over. “It is possible that my lack of sleep is causing me to behave in an unusual manner,” he said at last, yawning to punctuate his words. 

“In that case, I think we should get you back to your quarters before you do something that you’ll be horribly embarrassed about in the morning.” Jim said, glancing about to make sure that the crew wasn’t watching. He’d have to remember that Spock behaved like this when tired for future reference. It wouldn’t do to have another display in public, but it could be a potentially useful tool at a more appropriate time. 

Jim went to gently shake Bones awake before Spock could devise a more romantic way to do it. As the sleepy doctor rose to stand, Spock inserted himself between the two men, and linking arms with them led them all out of the rec-room.

“What in the Sam Hill is going on around here?” A sleepy Bones asked as he allowed himself to be escorted down the hallway. “Spock, are you out of your Vulcan mind?”

“He may just be,” Jim said, trying to wiggle his arm loose. “He let me win a game of chess to spare my feelings, smiled at me, and then kissed you on the forehead.”

“He did what?” Bones asked. “Jim, did you slip something in his drink?”

“He’s just sleep-deprived as far as I can tell. Help me get him back to his quarters.” 

Between the two of them, they managed to get Spock into his room. He was yawning, and saying soft things about how beautiful their eyes were. It made it rather harder to leave once they had got him settled. 

“Spock, I don’t know if you’ll remember this in the morning,” Bones said before he stumbled tiredly out the door, “but I sure hope you do. Maybe it will convince you to be more careful to get an adequate amount of sleep, since you don’t appear to be listening to my suggestions.”

Jim turned out the light, and they both headed back to their own respective quarters, falling asleep as soon as their boots were off and their heads touched the pillows. 

The next morning, on the bridge, Spock refused to make eye contact with Jim, who knew better than to bring up the evening's events. He’d talk it over with Bones at some point, but poor Spock--who detested any weak show of affection--was probably mortified over the illogical way he had behaved. Jim only hoped he wasn’t too ashamed to do it again. He knew he had enjoyed hearing about how beautiful his eyes were, and he was sure Bones had too.

THE END.


End file.
